Summary of Interests

About My Work

Advancement in thin film growth techniques drives the discovery of new physics and technologies. Thin film growth approaches and characterization techniques have become more crucial than ever to design and evaluate many emerging materials systems, such as complex oxides. Our group's research is focused on growth of oxide thin films using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) approach with a goal to bring oxide materials quality to a new level of perfection needed for both fundamental science and for application in electronic devices. The growth of compound semiconductors with unprecedented structural and electronic quality and with engineered heterostructures has led to the discovery of many novel phenomena and has thereby enabled the development of several new technologies through device fabrication, such as heterojunction bipolar transistors. Our understanding in the area of binary and complex oxide thin films and their heterostructures is limited. Complex oxides are fundamentally different from conventional semiconductors. They offer multi-functionalities as diverse as ferroelectricity, superconductivity, and strongly-correlated Mott-Hubbard-type insulator characteristics. Furthermore, emergent phenomena at oxide interfaces offer the capability to tailor materials properties in entirely new ways with potential for multi-functional devices.

Using the hybrid MBE approach (combination of chemical beam epitaxy and solid source epitaxy) to grow oxide films with precise stoichiometry and atomic layer control, we focus on engineering oxide growth to create the next generation of functional oxide quantum structures. We explore nanoscale structures of oxides as platforms to study structure-property relationships, thermoelectric properties and to develop basic knowledge needed to understand correlated electron physics via different approaches including band structure, band-gap and strain engineering. Our interdisciplinary work involves a close collaboration between materials scientists, chemists, physicists and electrical engineers. We employ thin film growth using ultra high vacuum, low energetic, hybrid molecular beam epitaxy. Structural characterization methods include high-resolution x-ray diffraction, x-ray reflectivity, atomic force microscopy and electron microscopy. We employ low temperature electrical and thermal transport measurements to advance our ability to understand materials properties and control them using external sources such as electric and magnetic field.